I LOVE PAI :)

I LOVE PAI :) 

Literally I could just leave it at that. It is the truth. I really do love that place :) Amazingly chilled backpacker town, where I could have stayed much, much longer than the 72 hours I had available to spend. I will be back, it's not a promise. Just a simple fact :) 

After surviving the 762 hairpin bends that you pass through on the road between Chiang Mai and Pai, I fell in love with this little town big time. Beautiful, crazy sense of calm hits you the moment you leave the bus and start walking down the street to your hotel. Just amazing how it happened. Love at first sight :)

I think it's fantastic that so many of my friends know me so, so well that they knew before I did just how much I would love Pai. Even people who had only met me briefly on this adventure called backpacking emailed me to tell me "Caro you will love Pai, you have to go to Pai". You all know who you are, so THANK YOU, eternally thank you. I think everyone knows from facebook just how much my heart and mind fell in love with this crazy little town. 

I stayed at a cool little hotel called Family House @Pai. It was amazing, such friendly staff and my room was amazing! I had a huge bed, bog sofa, a balcony overlooking their fabulous swimming pool and a really comfortable reception chill out area. They were located right on the river so it was a little bit further back from the noise and activity from the bars in the evening. Yet a two minute walk to the walking markets and street food stalls for dinner time :) Perfect. Again. 

The staff were amazingly kind. I finally got my courage together after a couple of days of staying there, and asked them (with encouragement from facebook friends - thanks) to ask if they minded me teaching yoga by their swimming pool. They were as excited as me, and said that if I can find customers then they fully support me and will also mention me to their new customers. They held true to their word and mentioned they had a 'resident yoga teacher' staying with them and to make use of me ;) I wish I could have stayed longer and taught a while here, such good energy and happy times. I managed to get speaking to 4 girls who were in the pool and talking about trying to attend yoga classes. I introduced myself and offered to teach them the next morning if they were keen. Sure enough they all showed up to class the next morning by the pool :) It was a great class, lots of positive energy and a shared collaboration.... I came prepared with a class plan and they would ask to throw certain poses into it as we went along. It was wonderful to be teaching again, and once again I realized just how much I love being a yoga teacher <3 The hotel asked me to post a photo of the class onto their facebook page too which is very nice, and also said they would be happy to have me come back and teach there again as they like to be able to tell their guests they have a visiting yoga teacher <3 

Pai cracks me up. There is a crazy routine that appears when you live in Pai. The mornings are amazing, clear blue skies and sunshine and happiness all around. Then every day at 3.30pm the heavens open and it thunders and rain clouds appear from absolutely nowhere and that is your sign that your sunbathing time is over. I flash packed in Pai, I chose the one hotel with a swimming pool and I was so happy with my choice. It was super hot while I was there, and I spent nearly every spare second either by the pool or in it cooling down! 

I kind of love it as I quickly established a routine - breakfast and coffee at one of the many funky cafes, a fruit smoothie on the way back to my pool (yes I flashpacked in Pai...) for a $1, then sit by the pool and sunbathe and read, then chill on the balcony until the rain changed to sideways and then I hide inside on the sofa (yes I finally had a sofa - how amazingly wonderful did I feel during that stay!) in my room or the hotel bar and do my blog entries and read. When it would calm down for 5 minutes I would run to a cafe and chill out with a coffee until dinner and chat to random people passing through, or not depending on my mood. Such beautiful chilled days. 

To some of you that must sound super lazy and boring. But for someone like me who cannot let a day go by without feeling as though I should be doing something or have a plan of things to see and get done, this was just what I needed. It was perfect in fact :) 

So by day I lazed, and visited my favorite cafes :) I just adored the Witching Well and Boomalicious! The staff and the atmosphere in both places was just amazing.  In the Witching Well I tried their home made muesli and coffee, it was easily the best, most natural muesli I have had the whole of my trip. The coffee was as normal in the north of Thailand wonderful. They have a water haze sprinkling water across the entrance to keep you cool inside the cafe, such a nice idea! Boomalicious which is just next door has the most amazingly creative menu with all of their produce being organic and home made. I ate here often, and my favorite meal was an avocado and bacon salad with sweet potatoes, fresh mint and basil and so many other yummy ingredients. It was my first taste of avocado since leaving home in January! The small things in life hey ;) I also ate amazing poached eggs on home made bruschetta with pesto and fresh tomatoes and basil. Wow!

I became addicted to everything Pai. The logo for Pai is "Pai is Love" and I totally get where that comes from. Love is everywhere in Pai, real love, happy love, shopping love, smiling love. It's everywhere! You can't help but feel the energy all around you :) 

I spent afternoons in various coffee shops along the main strip, and in particular fell in love with All About Coffee which was just a fabulous set up. The women who runs it has local artwork all over the walls, and so many paintings that her young son has painted also! She has a beaming smile from the moment you walk into her coffee shop and she quickly tells you what the cake of the day is, and which one is freshest and which one is her personal favorite. I tried apple crumble with ice cream on my last day because she had just made it, and because since Nepal I had been (for some reason) dreaming of this very desert! It was, as she predicted, mouth wateringly good! I also had the banana espresso iced coffee which was out of this world fabulous!! I chilled out in another coffee shop called Coffee Canyon, where the coffee was amazing and I loved again the artwork everywhere that you looked. Everyone in Pai appreciates the simple things in life, and makes the most of everything beautiful around them. It is like each store or cafe knew exactly what would make me happiest to see and had put it up just for me. I have never been to a town where there are so many things all together in one place that I adore. The fresh juice stalls I visited each day as well, love love love :)

By day I hit the streets of Pai and walked the whole length several times of their walking markets, where local artists presented the most lovely artwork and jewelry for tourists to explore. It was such a chilled out vibe walking up and down the streets, and there was a no drinking alcohol or eating rule amongst the stalls which was a nice idea. I bought several leather bracelets and postcards. I bought the most gorgeous lime green leather handbag on my last evening in Pai. Several people joined in on the decision between sensible brown and the bag that had initially caught my eye - remotely through facebook chat haha! Lindsay and Anne - you were both awesome and what good taste we all have ;) I struggled with being a backpacker and not really "needing" a lime green leather bag, but really really wanting it because it was such a fun colour and just because it reminded of a fun place and time in my life. I didn't struggle for too long in the end, and after consuming a cold beer to help lessen the guilt, I quickly went back to the store and collected my new awesome handbag and wore it proudly everywhere I went afterwards!!

There were bicycles and scooters everywhere you looked in Pai. Vespas, especially some very, very cool old school designs!! Brilliant! I even found an exact replica of my beautiful Bermuda white old school Vespa. Ah homesick for my little island briefly :(  In reality if ever there was a time and place to rent a scooter it was in Pai, the roads were in great condition, and nice and wide and everyone so laid back. None of the normal Asia road rage. For some reason I didn't rent the scooter though, maybe I was scared at how many people I saw with road rash! Maybe I just wanted to chill out 100%, who knows. Next time I will rent one though as I do look back and wish just one day I had taken to the roads on two wheels again, just like my Bermuda days ;)

The street food hawkers were the best I have seen as well. Every single evening I walked to the streets and bought pad thai or my favorite thai dishes such as fried basil leaf with chicken, corn on the cob and tried so many new things I hadn't seen before. Just wonderful on my taste buds (or taste bums as Per Bear used to say in Lanta!).

72 hours in Pai. Amazing place. I think I loved it even more than I loved Hoi An in Vietnam. The only thing missing from this picture is the ocean. The calmness and happiness of this town is immense, you feel it from the moment that you arrive. A calm sense of contentment kicks in immediately and never leaves you. I hope that I manage to take this feeling with me everywhere that I go. Must. Stay. Strong. For. Bangkok. Lol!! Pai is love. It is everywhere. Written everywhere. The cafe culture, the amazing coffee, the stores, the artwork, the funky postcards, bicycles everywhere, old school Vespas, scooters everywhere. The main streets become alive at night time with their artwork, and food stalls with the most deliciously yummy food ever. Everyone smiles here. Awesome hotel. The lovely owner encouraging me to teach yoga, giving me the confidence to know that I CAN travel and make a living teaching yoga as I go. Such a big step for me removing all self doubt and having faith that the universe knows exactly where I am supposed to be!! I absolutely adored this little town and was so sad to leave. I am so grateful to the friends who encouraged me to come and visit. I will be back and bringing my yoga mat with me. Bye bye Pai and your beautiful aura <3